Background Glucosinolates (sulphur-containing compounds) are hydrolyzed by the plant enzyme myrosinase to ITC, which have chemopreventive properties. No information has been reported about the metabolic fate of ITC in the kailan-hybrid broccoli, which physicochemical characteristics could greatly influence that metabolic fate. Previous studies have shown that cooking process of vegetables may vary the human absorption of the correspondent nutritional and bioactive compounds.